Lost Gold Chronicles: Nathan's Special Gift
by CJ Moliere
Summary: Rumple and Belle have always known their youngest son Nathan was a special child but when the family makes the decision to adopt a pet they come to realize just how special he is.


The summer Hope was five and Nathaniel three Rumple and Belle resumed one of the plans they made when they married: Rumple wanted his beloved wife to see as much of this new world they now called their home as possible. They had already been in England at the request of Diego, only it was to do a little ghostbreaking first. Still, they managed to find some time to do some sightseeing. Belle's Facebook timeline showed post after post of their travels complete with beautiful pictures as well as videos. Rumple had been a bit nervous about being in front of the camera during their first vacation in Florida but now he was used to it. They had at last made the trip to their best friend Fiona's grand castle in Scotland named Ballyloch but before they did, they spent some time in Perth, mostly at the Active Kids Adventure Park. It was during their visit there that the 'D' word had been brought up by both of their children. They wanted a dog. Belle already knew her husband was a dog person after seeing him interact with Pongo and he'd told her he'd gotten to know a sheepdog in the Forest years before. They made a family agreement before leaving Scotland that they would visit the Storybrooke Pet Shelter and find a dog to adopt.

"Well, look who's back!" David exclaimed as the family walked into the pet shelter.

"We're here to get a doggie!" Nathan said excitedly.

"Oh, are you? Well, we have plenty of dogs here that need good homes and I know any one you choose will be well taken care of." He looked up at Rumple. "Are you sure you're ready for that, Rum?"

"Well, I can never say no to my children...or my wife for that matter," he answered. "All right imps, let's go find a dog."

David led them to the room where they kept the dogs. Hope and Nathan looked each other sadly as they saw the dogs in cages, not thinking it was fair. The dogs hadn't done anything wrong, they didn't need to be in jail. They wished they could take them all home but their father was firm in his decision that they could only get one dog.

While they were all standing in the middle of the room David explained that all of the animals the shelter had taken in came from outside the town line. Rumple wasn't in the least bit surprised by this bit of information. Storybrooke was becoming a safe haven for all sorts of beings now. Belle was horrified as she looked at some of the dogs and saw that they showed signs of being mistreated. David pulled her and Rumple aside and informed them of some of the things he'd seen that disturbed him.

Something strange was happening to Nathan. He could hear dozens of voices in his head again as he did at the Adventure Park in Scotland and sometimes when he passed Dr. Hopper and Pongo on the street but didn't know where they were coming from. They weren't coming from his parents, sister or Uncle David...he knew that at least.

_Please don't think that just because we're in cages, we're not happy here. David and his assistants take good care of us. And we'd all like to go home with you but I'm sure there are other people who can take us to their homes too...we'd just have to visit you. _

"Huh?" Nathan asked allowed. "Who's talking to me?"

_Look over here...in the corner by the door. _

Nathan could see a chocolate labrador in a cage by the door as the voice indicated.

"You...you're talking to me...in my head?"

_Yes. You are a true love child Nathan and all true love children have special gifts. Yours is the ability to communicate with us...the animals. You inherited it from your father...and your mother to some extent. Even when he was under the curse, he was always kind to the animals and learned to communicate with them. Now he has passed the gift onto you. _

Nathan sat down in front of the cage. "Do you want to come home with me?" he asked the dog.

_I would like to but I'm not meant to, dear child. The pets that are meant to be yours will make themselves known to you. _

"You mean I'm gonna have more than one? Daddy only said we could have one."

_He will change his mind. Nothing is more important to your father than your happiness and these pets will make your home complete. He will understand and that is why he will change his mind. _

"What's your name?"

_Hershey. _

"Like the candy?"

The Lab barked aloud in response. _Like the candy bar. _

"Nate, are you talking to the dog?" Hope asked as she approached.

_Hello, Hope. _

The five year old jumped back. "Nate, did you hear that? He talked to me!"

"Uh-huh. He talks to me too, in here. Says Daddy can do it too." Nathan said, tapping his head. "An he also says they don't feel like they're in jail here 'cause David takes good care of 'em."

"Does he wanna come home with us?"

"He says he's not meant to but others will."

"Daddy said one dog."

"He's gonna change his mind...that's what Hershey thinks."

"Hershey? Like the candy bar?"

"Uh-huh."

They spent a few more minutes with the dog, chatting back and forth, the two children promising Hershey that they would speak to everyone they could to try to find the dog a good home before they moved onto to the next cage. They almost didn't realize there was a dog in there because he was so small but as soon as the brown Chihuahua spotted them he lifted his head and his small tail wagged back and forth in excitement. The dog stood up. Upon closer inspection the two children noticed that the dog's front paws were disfigured yet he seemed to be able to walk with them. He ran over to the front of the cage and stuck his head out between the bars to brush against Nathan's hand.

_Hi! I want to play. Will you play with me? _

The two children laughed. "Aww he's cute!" Hope giggled. "And look Nate...he gets around real good even if his front paws don't work right!"

_I can do all sorts of stuff! I'll show you. _

"Why don't your front feet work?" Nathan asked curiously

_I was born this way but I can still play. You have any toys? I like toys!_

Nathan smiled and waved his hand, a toy bone appearing in it. He stuck the bone into the cage. The dog picked it up with his teeth then set it down, sitting back on his haunches and looking up at the two children. They smiled.

"Daddy, we want this one!" they cried out. Rumple and Belle walked over to the cage.

"Oh, Rumple! Look at his legs! What did they _do_ to him!?" Belle asked in horror.

"He says he was born that way, Mommy," Nathan explained.

"Nathan, does he talk to you?" Rumple asked softly as he kneeled down beside his children.

_Hi! I wanna go home with you! Will you let me go home with you, please? I'll be good and I'll make sure no one hurts you. I may be little but I'm real loud and you'll know when someone comes in your house. _

Rumple smiled at the small Chihuahua. The dog looked to be no more than a year old but like all animals he had a wisdom beyond his years. He glanced over at Belle. She was already trying to befriend the small dog.

"Do we want this dog to come home with us?" Rumple asked his family.

"Yes!" they all cried in unison.

Rumple waved his hand and the cage unlocked. The dog jumped into Nathan's arms and began licking his face.

_Thank you! I told your daddy I'll be good and I'll make sure no one hurts you! _

Nathan laughed. "Do you have a name?"

_Taco._

"That's the name of a food."

_Yeah but I like it. Lucky gave it to me. He's my best friend. _

"Rumple, why is Nathan talking to the dog?" Belle asked.

"Because the dog can talk back to him."

"Like Dr. Doolittle?"

Rumple smiled. "Yes, sweetheart. It looks like our boy _is_ going to be Dr. Doolittle. Why are you surprised? He _is_ after all the son of Rumplestiltskin the Beast and Belle the Beauty as well as a true love child. All true love children have special gifts. Nathan must've inherited my ability to talk to animals. Even you can communicate with them to some extent. I noticed that when our cat Lucky came to us in the Dark Castle."

Belle smiled sadly. "What did happen to him?"

"It stayed behind when the curse was cast I'm certain," he said sadly. "And now...he's gone...with the Forest..."

Nathan stood up and walked toward the door.

_No! We can't go yet! What about Lucky!? I can't leave without him! Please...I promised him we'd leave together. _

Nathan paused. "Daddy, we gotta find Lucky. Taco doesn't want to leave without him!" he cried urgently.

"Taco? You're naming the dog after a food?" Rumple asked with a frown. "And Lucky?"

"Lucky named him that. C'mon Daddy, he promised Lucky they'd leave together and I don't want him to have to break his promise. Please!" Nathan begged, looking up at his father with tear filled eyes and soon the dog, his wife and daughter followed suit. Rumple sighed. He never could say no to any of them when they looked like that.

"All right. David, do you know where this Lucky is being kept?" Rumple asked.

"Sure. Follow me." David led them down the hall to the cat cages.

"Lucky's a _cat_? And he's your _friend_?" Nathan asked the dog.

_Uh-huh. David took us from the same place where some of the other pets came from. The people who had us were mean. David lets us play together all the time and I told Lucky if we ever had a chance to go to a real home we'd go together. _

David led them over to a cage where a grey and white cat lay sleeping.

_Lucky! Get up!_

_What? I'm sleeping. _

_I found someone to take us home!_

The cat opened one eye and found his puppy best friend behind held gently by a small boy. Standing behind him were a little girl and three adults. The cat could sense strong magic coming from the two children and man. It sat up and focused its gaze on the man.

_Rumplestiltskin. Long time no see. And I also see you finally came to your senses. About damned time too, you stubborn jackass!_

_How did __**you**__ get here?_ Rumple asked unable to believe his eyes. His old friend had returned to them!

_Surely you didn't think humans were the only ones who could cross realms. I just hitched a ride on Hook's ship when he came over with Cora but you weren't ready to see me yet so I went travelling and ran into Taco here. _

_But...how have you lived this long? _

_Don't you remember? You touched me with your magic while you were still the Dark One and it gave me a few more lives along with the nine I already went through. _

Rumple smiled. "Belle, you won't believe who Lucky really is."

"Who?"

"_Our Lucky_," he said with a smile.

"What? The same one that we...but how?!"

"Nine lives, dearie...or in his case probably eighteen."

"Daddy, are we gonna take Lucky home too?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"Yes we are."

Taco barked excitedly. Rumple waved his hand and the cage opened. Lucky vanished in a puff of black smoke and appeared in Belle's arms, purring as he rubbed against her.

"Lucky, baby...I've missed you," Belle murmured.

_And I've missed you, my beauty. I even missed this stubborn jackass. _

"Very funny furball," Rumple muttered his breath.

"He can poof!" Nathan cried.

"How can he poof, Daddy?" Hope asked.

_I'm the cat he and your Mommy took care of at the big castle Nathan. He gave me a bit of his magic while he was healing me. I just can't use it to heal Taco. No one can. It would be too painful for him. Besides, he's happy the way he is. _

_Uh huh. I can still play and now that I have Lucky with me we'll all play together._

As the family was walking out of the animal shelter, Nathan asked to stop at Hershey's cage one more time.

"Thanks Hershey. I'm taking Lucky and Taco home with me, just like you said."

_Lucky's been looking for his old mistress and master a long time and Taco just needed a good home so it worked out for both of them. _

"I'm still gonna find homes for all of you."

_I know you will,_ the dog said confidently.

When they got to the house, Nathan insisted on carrying Taco because the dog informed him that it was hard on his front paws to walk on anything that wasn't soft and Lucky confirmed this.

_You have rugs...I can run on those. You can put me down now, Nate. _

"You sure?"

The dog barked in response. Nathan gently set him down on the ground and he started racing around the room. Lucky followed him, sniffing the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Wow...you're really fast, Taco." Nathan conjured the bone again and tossed it. The dog picked it up in its mouth and ran it back to the child, depositing it at his feet.

_Throw it again! Lucky, why aren't you playing yet? _

_This place isn't my castle. Let me get used to it first, okay? _

"Your castle, Lucky?" Rumple demanded. "Since when did it become your castle?"

_Since I had to put up with your cranky ass. _

_Would you mind your mouth around my children!? I'm not above washing it out with soap you know. _

_Bring it on! _

Nathan laughed. "Lucky's picking on you, Daddy."

"Oh, I'm used to it. He's got _cattitude_ with a capital C."

_And don't you forget it either. _

Nathan, Hope and Belle took turns amusing the small chihuahua by playing fetch with him. Finally Lucky got tired of sparring with Rumple and gave in to the dog's demands to play.

"I'm so glad we found Lucky again...and found Taco with him," Belle murmured as she sat beside her husband and watched the children playing with their new pets. "Not many people like to take in disabled animals but I don't understand why. They have as much of a right to be loved as any other."

"Yes they do."

"Daddy, I made a deal with Hershey that I'd find him and the other animals good homes...and I can't break it," Nathan informed his father as he crawled onto his lap. "Can you help me?" he pleaded.

"We do owe him that, don't we little imp? All right. I'm sure we can all come up with something together."

The next day the Strogoff Gold family plus two drove over to the television station. The producers of Storybrooke Tonight were getting used to seeing them. They'd been in the station months ago to do a segment announcing the town wide yard sale that was held to raise money to build the large memorial to the victims of the Great Realm Destruction that now stood in the town square.

"It's a wonderful idea," Sidney Glass said. He divided his time between managing the station and running The Mirror. "We can even put an article in The Mirror. Rumple, do you mind if we do an interview with all of you and get some pictures of Lucky and Taco?"

"No, it'll be fine. That's what Nathan wants to do anyway."

"Uh huh. Cause I promised." Nathan reminded them.

Everyone in Storybrooke tuned in to Storybrooke Tonight because it was _the source _for information in their town and most of them weren't surprised when they heard they were going to be airing an interview with members of the Strogoff Gold family.

"What is that imp up to now?" Regina muttered while she and Robin Hood sat on the sofa watching the program while Roland sat on the floor in front of them. Sidney Glass was shown talking to three year old Nathan who was holding a Chihuahua puppy in his arms whose front paws were disfigured.

"Nathan, why did you choose to adopt this little guy here?"

"Because I like him. He can still run and play like other doggies. Watch!" Nathan threw a plush bone and set Taco down on his feet. The puppy raced over to the bone, picked it up and brought it back.

"That was very good."

"Uh huh. And he can jump on the couch an chair since they're not too high...we just gotta put a pillow down so he doesn't hurt himself jumping off," Nathan said. "The doctors said they could fix him but he'd have to have his legs broke and all kinda pins put in em and that would hurt! I like him the way he is! I think all animals should have a good home, no matter what they are!" the child said firmly.

"Now who is this?" Sidney asked as he turned the camera on Hope who had Lucky sitting on her lap.

"Lucky. He's Taco's friend. He's different too, see? He's got seven claws on his front feet and four on his back feet." Hope said as she held up the cat's paws to demonstrate.

"And you found both of these pets at the animal shelter?" Sidney asked Belle.

"Yes. We were told they both came from a place where animals were abused. It's appalling. Rumple and I used to take in injured and stray animals all the time, at least until we found them suitable homes back in our country. We'd discussed getting the children a pet before but wanted to wait until they were both old enough to understand the responsibility that comes with it. There are so many animals at the shelter that need a good home and I feel a house is not a home without a pet."

"Mama Gina, Daddy? Can we get a pet?" Roland asked her when the segment ended. "Please!"

"All right...but you heard what Belle said. Having one comes with responsibility."

"I'll take care of it!" the child vowed.

The same thing was happening all over town. Parents were being flooded with requests by their children to adopt a pet and even some of the adults wanted to get one. Dr. Hopper felt it was time his Pongo needed a companion while he was at work.

A week later while Rumple and Nathan were out for their morning walk they spotted David walking a Dalmatian.

"Hi Uncle David!" Nathan greeted.

"I've got to hand it to you, Nate. Every pet we had in the shelter got adopted," he said proudly.

"All of em? Then who's she?"

"I found her this morning at the town line."

_My name is Perdy._ Nathan heard the dog say.

"She just wandered in?" Rumple asked. "Was she injured?"

"No, she seems fine, lost I think."

"My son could tell you. Nathan, what is she telling you?" Rumple inquired of his son.

_I've been searching all over but I don't see any other Dalmatians. Special child, could you help me find one? _

"You should meet Pongo," Nathan said to her.

_Is he a Dalmatian? _

"Uh-huh. He looks just like you. Daddy, Perdy wants to meet Pongo!"

_"Perdy?_ Her name is Perdy?"

David laughed. "Why are you shocked, Rum? Remember who _we_ are."

"I don't know why I kept forgetting," Rumple mumbled, "David, would you mind if we borrowed Perdy for a bit?"

"Not at all. If Dr. Hopper wants to take her, just call and let me know, okay?"

"Will do."

Rumple took Perdy's leash and led her down the street with his son at his side. The child was smiling when he saw people leading other dogs in the streets. He was curious to see who adoped Hershey and looked around but he couldn't see the Lab anywhere. When they passed the sheriff's office the door opened and Sheriff Wyatt Cain walked out, whistling.

"Hershey! Come on boy!" he called out. The Lab ran out the door and when it saw Nathan it barked excitedly and ran over to him, licking his face.

"I told you I'd find you a good home!" Nathan said to him as he hugged him. "An now you living with my cousin DG and Wyatt so I can see you a lot more!"

_Yes you can. I see you found another dog. A mate for Pongo, perhaps? _

"I dunno. What's a mate?"

_Like what your mommy is to your daddy...wife. _

"Oh! Yeah...I think she can be."

_I would like a mate very much, Nathan. _

"Let's not put the cart before the horse, dearie," Rumple cautioned his son. "They may not like each other."

_I'd still like to meet him regardless,_ the Dalmatian insisted. They continued their walk and as they approached Dr. Hopper's office he stepped out with Pongo.

"Mr. Gold? Did you adopt another dog?"

"Nuh uh. I think you should," Nathan piped up. Rumple unhooked the leash so that the two Dalmatians could meet. Nathan watched with a smile on his small face as the dogs seemed to be getting along. "Look! They like each other!" he said, pointing to them. Their noses were touching. Rumple took out his phone and handed it to the doctor.

"David's expecting your call." he said with a laugh.

"Well, I wanted a companion for Pongo and it looks like I found one." He smiled at Nathan. "Thank you Nathan."

"You're welcome, Dr. Hopper," Nathan said cheerfully, petting both dogs.

"He's a special boy Rumple."

"Yes he is," Rumple said proudly. "My own Dr. Doolittle."

"You mean he can actually..._talk_ to animals?"

"Knowing who _we _are cricket, how could you doubt it?"

"Sometimes I forget who we are."

"That makes two of us," Rumple agreed, smiling when he saw his son embracing both dogs while they licked his cheeks affectionately.


End file.
